Organic molten salt, which is an ionic liquid, is a liquid that is thermally, chemically and electrochemically stable, is made only of ions, cations and anions and show high ionic conductivity. It also shows excellent qualities such as incombustibility, nonvolatile, low solubility to water and organic solvent. Further, since there is a diverse combination of cations and anions, various organic molten salts and their applications have been reported so far.
For example, an organic molten salt designed so that a catalyst is easily dissolved therein, which enables the extraction of the product by simple separation procedures following the reaction, since the catalyst selectively migrates to the organic molten salt layer, has been reported. This method utilizes the low solubility of the organic molten salt to organic and aqueous layers, which thus enables the recovery and reuse of expensive catalysts.
Further, since the organic molten salt is a liquid on its own and shows fluidity, a technologies such as the formation of organic molten salt into a film while maintaining its conductivity have been studied. Thus, the organic molten salt has also attracted much interest in the electrochemical field, and due to its high conductivity, its use as a new age-electrolyte is being expected.
However, the foregoing organic molten salt was used merely as a reaction solvent, and even for its application in the electrochemical field, only its conductivity in the isotropic field has been evaluated. Thus, the range of its application has been greatly limited.
Thus, the invention of the present application has been made under these circumstances, and its aim is to provide, upon solving the problems of the prior art, a novel liquid-crystalline ionic conductor which is useful as an anisotropic reaction solvent, ionic conductor, electric field-responsible conductor or the like, in fields such as the electric, electronic, chemical and bioengineering fields, as well as a method for producing such liquid-crystalline ionic conductor.